Broken Circuit
by Amethyst Bubble
Summary: AU, HaoYoh Sometimes, reality is like a circuit past repair. You can't get it to work nomatter how many times you try. Sometimes, fate is like a war you can't win. All you can do is hold on and keep fighting...[Discontinued.]
1. Project FI: Fate Interference

A/N: This is a little idea that popped into my head at about 1:30 in the morning and wouldn't go away!! Anyway, it's changed a lot since then. It will contain some OCs, but none of them will end up with any of the characters or anything like that. In fact, by the end I'll probably have killed them off. I just needed them to make the story line a bit smoother. This will become yaoi/shonen ai, so if you don't like, then don't read. Pairings will most likely be RenHoro and HaoYoh. Please read, enjoy, and review!! ^__^ You'll make Ammy REALLY happy if you do!!

Disclaimer: If I owned Shaman King, most of it would be dedicated to Yoh making out with all the other bishounen! XD

Broken Circuit

Chapter One: Project FI: Fate Interference

**************************

            "Project FI?" The young woman asked, her hands pressed against cold glass.

            "Really something, huh? First actual success in the Artificial Intelligence program." Her companion, another woman with waist length black hair, smiled.

            Behind the glass, a boy was hooked up to several dozen cables.

            "When do they think he'll be up and running?" The first woman inquired.

            The first woman shook her head, "It," she stated. "It may look real, but it's still just a machine. A tool, for human use."

            The first smiled a bit, and shook her head. "What this one programmed for?"

            "I don't know. I know someone working on it, and that's all they told me."

            The first stared at the boy behind the glass some more. "So…real," she whispered.

            Her companion laughed, "That's the idea."

****************

            "This is the place," Asakura Hao surveyed the building. 

            "I don't know about this, niichan…all those people…" Asakura Yoh looked at his brother, worry written on his soft features. 

            "Don't go soft now." Tao Ren advised, leaning against Hao's car.

            Hao turned to his twin, holding Yoh's gaze with his own, "Yoh. It was your vision. You saw it, what will happen if they succeed with this. This must be done."

            "But isn't there some way to do this without killing?" Yoh pleaded.

Hao shook his head, "Yoh, if they continue with this many more will die. If they continue, you might be hurt. I'm not going to allow that."

Yoh bit his lip, "Fine," He opened the car door and climbed in. "But I'm not watching!"

            The fourth member of their party, another boy with blue spiky hair kept out of his face by a headband made his appearance from behind the building. "Alright. One spark and this place goes up in flames," He grinned, but it was a grin that didn't reach his eyes. Such sad eyes…

**************

            "Daddy, what are these?" Lyserg asked, hands pressed against the glass separating his father's office from the lab.

            "Robots, Lyserg. Programmed to do all sorts of things."

            Lyserg nodded in awe. 

            "You'd best be off to school, now, though." 

The green haired boy nodded, grabbing his backpack and running out the door.

**************

            HoroHoro watched the sea of flames that was once a building from the safety of Hao's car. It was hypnotizing, the swirl of red and orange.

            Yoh hid his face in Hao's shirt, as Hao petted his twin's brown hair.

            "Hush…You knew this had to happen."

            Yoh nodded, but remained silent.

            Ren stared impassively into the fire.

***************

            "No!" Lyserg fell to his knees, staring at the flames. "No…it's not happening…not real…it's not real!" He shut his eyes tight, covering his ears with pale hands. "No…no…no…" He opened his eyes. The fire kept on burning.

His frail frame hit cold cement. 

            "Mother…Father…"

************

            _Fire…more fire…a familiar place…what is it? I can't remember. I know this place…I can't remember. Why can't I remember…? _

_          Hao…niichan…fighting…What's going on? This isn't right. Who are we fighting? Why is everything so quiet? Except for that strange melody…I know that too. But I can't remember? I can't remember…I should…I don't…_

_            Who are these people? There are…two?...of them? Something isn't right. Are they…human? No…something is wrong. I don't understand…these images, flashing, many to fast for me to understand. Those two again. Who…no, what are they? Their energy…it's unsettling. It's unlike anything I've ever felt…I don't understand._

_            Fire…swords…fighting. The clink of metal on metal, the heat washing over me. Tears…someone is crying…_

_            I can't remember…_

_          I can't remember…_

*********

            Yoh sat straight up, brown eyes wide. "Why…can't I …remember?"

"Are you alright?" Hao asked.

"…Yeah…"

**************

            _A strange, haunting melody…_

"…Why can't I remember?"

*************

-End-Chapter 1-

Heehee! Finally, the first chapter is completed! Mwahahahaha…and this is just the tip of the iceberg, my friends. I actually have a PLOT for this one! *Gasp* 

Well, anyway, this is just gonna get more complicated my friends.

This was my first Shaman King fic, so I hope nobody was too OOC. I don't think they were, but you never know. If I'm getting anyone too out of character please nicely suggest how I can change that, please.

 Oh, and let me clear one little thing up. In this fic, Yoh has premonitions. Aka, the power to see the future.

In the series, I'm pretty sure Yoh doesn't have this power. But it was kinda important for him to have it here. Okie dokie, now that that little matter is cleaned up, you can't flame me saying I messed that up! XP

…Well, I could still be flamed on other things…but, I'm going to trust my reviewers not to do that. Besides, nice reviews make me update faster…*hint hint*

R&R please! 


	2. Holidays

A/N: Lots of reviews for the first chapter! I feel so loved…^__^ I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, you guys really made me happy! You're all so great!*Huggles you all*

Disclaimer:*Sigh* If I owned Shaman King, would I be sitting here, typing fanfiction, and obsessing over Gravitation manga? Well, maybe I'd still be obsessing over Gravitation, but…Well, anyway, I don't own Shaman King. What a shock.

***********

Chapter 2: Holidays

**********

            "_HAO…" Yoh whined, "Give me back my headphones!"_

            "Nope," Hao said, twirling the said headphones on one finger, "Not 'til I get something in return." He smiled wickedly.

Yoh had very few options left. He decided to try the guilt trip.

"I can't believe you'd hold my, your adorable, sweet, caring little brother who loves you oh-so-very-much, MY headphones hostage!" Yoh pouted, using his best puppy-dog look.

            "Not falling for it!" Hao sang out.

            Yoh pouted more. Then slowly, a plan began to piece it's self together in his mind. He grinned. Oh, revenge was sweet.

He waited until Hao wasn't paying attention, creeping forward slowly and silently, so as not to alert his brother to his intentions.

Finally, he was close enough to put his plan into action.

            "HYAAH!" He jumped on to his brother's back, sending them both sprawling to the ground.

Yoh grinned down at Hao from his place above his twin. "Now, can I have my headphones back?"

Unfortunately for Yoh, Hao was smirking evilly. Whenever Hao smirked evilly, it meant he had a plan. These said plans were never good for Yoh.

Yoh felt arms encircle him, and pull him down next to Hao. Hao quickly took this opportunity to roll on top of Yoh, pinning the younger Asakura twin to the ground.

"Now," Hao smiled down at Yoh. "Who has won this little battle?"

"You have," Yoh pouted. "But, don't I get a consolation prize?"

"I suppose I could grant that…" Hao murmured, closing the distance between himself and Yoh and pressing his lips against the younger shaman's.

When they broke apart, Yoh blinked up at Hao, "I meant my headphones, you know."

"You really should make yourself clearer then, my dear." Hao smirked, capturing the others lips with his again and sliding one hand into Yoh's shirt. Hao parted Yoh's lips, flicking his tongue over the other brunette's. 

"Would you two _PLEASE _get a room?" Asked the annoyed voice of Tao Ren.

The twins broke apart to see an irritated Ren, and a grinning HoroHoro, who surveyed the two's positions on the ground with a raised eyebrow.

Yoh grinned sheepishly, blushing and Hao shrugged.

"Does a person honestly need to come home to see that in their living room?" Ren sighed.

Slowly, Yoh's face broke into a mischievous grin. "Mistletoe," He said, pointing above Ren and Horo's heads. The two hadn't moved from the doorway, and obviously had forgotten about the sprig hung up there.

"GYAH!" The Chinese and Ainu yelped, jumping away from each other.

"You know the rules about mistletoe…" Yoh continued.

Hao had that evil grin on his face again as he stared at the two blushing boys, "This ought to be good!"

The pyro shaman let out a small yelp, hiding behind Yoh and demonstrating the true power of Ren's glare.

The Chinese shaman muttered a few curses in a few different languages before placing his hands on Horo's shoulders and pressing his lips against the blue-haired snowboarder's.

After a few moments, he broke away and muttered a few more curses before walking out of the room. 

HoroHoro remained in the doorway, his eyes very wide and his face very red.

He was snapped out of his dazed state by the hysterical giggles of the Asakura twins.

"Th-this means nothing!" Horo shouted at the two brunettes.

The twins only continued to laugh so hard they were breathless.

***************

A few hours later, Yoh and HoroHoro stood in the living room of the house the four shared, hanging decorations on the large fir tree that sat in the middle of the room.

Hao and Ren had gone out, realizing that they hadn't bought anything for Yoh and Horo, and attempting to use the last few hours the stores were open to buy gifts.

Yoh giggled as he hung up an ornament, "The look on Hao's face was hysterical!" 

"I know! And when Ren realized as well!" Horo laughed. "They practically dragged each other out of the house!"

They both laughed for a moment or so, before falling silent. A melancholy feeling began to seep into the room, as the two shamans let out long sighs.

"All those people who aren't celebrating Christmas…all those families grieving…because of us…" Horo said quietly.

"I know…but, we can't think about that. Let's just be happy and have a nice holiday, okay?" Yoh smiled a sad sort of smile at Horo.

"You're right." The blue-haired boy grinned. But it wasn't a real grin…once again, it didn't reach his eyes, such sorrow filled eyes.

************

Hao and Ren were currently in a music store, browsing the rows of CDs.

"Hmmm…" Hao picked up a CD, flipping it over to look at the back. He took a step back and bumped into someone.

"Oh!" He blinked in surprise spinning around. The person who he had bumped into was a boy about the same age as him with brown hair and lavender eyes. 

The boy gasped in surprise, taking a step back from Hao. He let out a small yelp of pain, clutching his head as he shut his eyes tightly.

"Hikaru?" A blue-haired boy about a year older then the Hao ran up to the brown haired one. "Hikaru, are you okay?" The blue haired one looked over at Hao, surveying him with eyes as blue as his hair. The boy blinked, then winced in pain as he began to steer the other boy out of the store. "Terribly sorry about this," he called over his shoulder to Hao.

A blue haired girl ran up to the two boys. "Hey, Azin, what's wrong with Hikaru?" 

The blue haired boy, Azin, shook his head at her. 

She frowned and looked back at Hao. For a moment, she just stared, then her eyes flashed red and she took a step forward. A small blonde girl of about 11 years appeared next to her, tugging her out of the store the way Azin was leading Hikaru.

The four left and Hao blinked. "I wonder what that was about…"

*********

So…How was chapter 2? I hope everyone liked it as much as chapter one. It's my late X-mas gift to everyone!  Heehee, well review! 


	3. Cloudy Horizons

A/N: Had to boost the rating…it's PG-13, now. ^^;; For future violence and shonen ai. Meh, I really don't have much else to say…Did everyone have a good New Years? It's a bit late to be asking that, though…*Sweatdrop* Oh, and this chapter takes place on Christmas day. -.-;; It's a very, very late X-mas present for you all.

Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King. But, I do own Azin, Hikaru, Chloe and Sierra. ^_^ You have no idea good it feels to say that I own something!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 3- Cloudy Horizons

~~~~~~~~~~~

            Yoh turned over in his sleep, brushing away the long hairs that tickled his cheek.

"Wake up, sleepy-head," A voice said teasingly in his ear. 

Yoh blinked, meeting brown eyes that mirrored his own. "Morning, Hao." Yoh said, brushing a few strands of his twin's hair out of Hao's face.

"It's about time you woke up!" Hao said, sitting cross-legged on top of Yoh's stomach. "You sleep like a log!" The elder twin accused.

"I do not!" Yoh snapped, sitting up on his elbows and attempting to shove Hao off of him.

Hao stretched like a cat, lying down and placing his head on Yoh's shoulder and closing his eyes. "You're warm…" He purred.

Yoh sweatdropped, "Why'd you wake me up if you were just going to go back to sleep, and use me as a pillow?"

Hao opened one eye lazily and shrugged, "To torture you, I suppose."

Yoh glared down at his brother. "It's Christmas. If you don't let me get up, you aren't getting any presents!"

Hao pretended to pout, getting off of Yoh and climbing off the bed, "You're evil." 

"I learned it from you, dearest 'niichan," Yoh smiled sweetly.

Hao blinked, "You have been spending way to much time with me." He said simply, walking out the door and closing it behind him.

Yoh dressed quickly, throwing on a sweater and jeans, hurrying after Hao.

He found his twin sitting at the table, drinking a cup of tea and mercilessly torturing HoroHoro and Ren.

"You argue a lot." Hao said, sipping the tea carefully.

"And that makes you think we're sleeping together why?" Ren snapped, blushing and looking ready to murder Hao. 

Hao glanced up from his tea, looking Ren straight in the eye before saying two words with an evil smirk, "Lover's spat."

"THAT'S IT!" Ren said, standing up, a butter knife in hand and glaring at Hao.

Hao blinked, before standing up and with an extra smirk at Ren, he said to Horo, "Can't you control your boyfriend?" And with that, he took off running.

"KISAMA!!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Two hours and a very expensive china vase later, Ren had calmed down, Hao had come out of hiding and the four were gathered together in the living room.

Yoh hugged his brother tightly, the new CD he'd wanted clasped in his hand. Hao smiled, fiddling with the copper bracelet studded with amber that hung from his wrist.

The twins broke apart to stare expectantly at Ren and Horo.

"…What?" Horo asked fidgeting under the gaze of the brunette shamans.

"Don't you have anything for Ren?" Yoh asked, barely managing to keep a straight face.

"And Ren, I saw what you picked out for Horo, don't you think you should give it to him?" Hao said, smirking in the direction of Ren, eyes narrowed lazily, like a cat's.

Ren twitched, a slight blush forming on the Chinese boy's cheeks, "Here." He said, shoving a medium-sized gift wrapped box at Horo.

The Ainu glanced at Ren a look of wonder in his eyes. With nimble fingers, he removed the wrapping, opening the box, pulling out a beautifully woven scarf.

"Wow, thanks Ren…" He said, lifting the scarf up to the light so as to better see the pattern.

"There's more." Ren said without looking at Horo.

The blue-haired boy blinked, looking into the box and pulling out a second object, a silver pin in the shape of a feather. 

Horo turned the pin over, admiring the piece of jewelry. "It's beautiful," He said, smiling at Ren, and giving the other a quick hug.

Ren smiled slightly in spite of himself, "You're embarrassing both of us, baka." 

HoroHoro pulled back, his usual grin plastered to his face, "I don't think my present is half as good as yours but here it is anyway!" He handed a small box that had been messily wrapped to Ren. 

Ren opened the box, revealing a small wooden figure of a tiger, painted orange with many black stripes. On the tiger's head was a tiny golden crown.

"Do you like it?" Horo asked eagerly.

"Yes," Ren said, smiling at Horo.

Horo grinned widely. "That's good."

The Chinese and the Ainu looked at each other for a minute, then turned away, blushing.

A chorus of "Aww…they're so in love!" was heard from the brunette twins in the background.

In a moment, Ren had his spear in hand, waving the weapon at Hao and Yoh with a very mad look on his face.

Hao sweatdropped, "Yoh, I think we may have overdone it…"

Yoh nodded, eyes wide.

"Ren, they were just joking, cut 'em some sla-" Horo gulped, finding the spear pointed in his direction.

"KISAMA!!"

Christmas wouldn't be complete without Ren's annual rampage.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Four figures were gathered in an old, abandoned warehouse downtown, the entire building blended into the shadows.

"That was a close one, last night." A small voice, definitely belonging to a young female said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to attract that much attention," A soft voice said quietly.

"It's not your fault." A third voice said, icy blue eyes glancing at the owner of the soft voice. "I should have known that it was too dangerous."

"You never let us have any fun! Such a stick in the mud!" A fourth voice added.

The icy eyes glared at the fourth, "You on the other hand, caused a great deal more trouble then we wanted. If you hadn't been stopped, I bet you would have tried to fight him right then and there."

The fourth shrugged her shoulders, "Hey, I can't help it, it's in my…blood." She stated, smirking softly at her choice of words.

"Cute." Icy eyes said sarcastically.

"It's not her fault, Azin…" The soft voice said, "I was the start of the whole incident."

"It wasn't your fault at all," Icy eyes, also known as Azin, said, voice softening a bit.

"Let's forget about, nothing really happened." The fourth said, with a casual toss of her hair.

"We just have to remember to be less conspicuous." The first said, she stepped into a ray of light to reveal herself as a small blonde girl of about 11 years of age. "After all, it won't be very much longer now until we're free…" She said, bright blue eyes scanning over the three others. "Not much longer at all…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Not my best but I had trouble with this chapter…^^;; I hope you enjoyed!


	4. Mysteries

A/N: Wow, the fourth chapter already! O.o;; This is a new for me…I usually don't write so fast…but everyone really seems to like the fic! ^^;; Yay! Heehee, I'm glad you all like it! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the others. There some major plot development in this chapter, and some of it's very subtle, so pay close attention! Oh, by the way, in future chapters, there will be some slight OC/OC. A cookie to who ever can guess which two OCs end up together! ^.~

Disclaimer: If I owned Shaman King, I would have never allowed 4Kids Entertainment to do the dubbing. X.X;;

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ 

Chapter Four: Mysteries

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

            Kyouyama Anna tugged at a stray piece of blonde hair. She flipped through countless documents of other cases, letting out an annoyed sigh when she couldn't find anything helpful. This case was going no where fast. All she knew was that the four missing boys were still alive, and well that was comforting to those who knew them, it didn't help her in solving this case.

            Anna sighed, spinning her swivel chair around so she faced the window. Across from her was an office building identical to the one she was in, and below were busy streets. 

            She kept running over the case in her mind, frustrated that she couldn't make any sense of it. Most missing people cases were simple for Anna, and it only took her a couple of weeks to track down the person, or in some cases, the kidnapper. 

            She'd been on this current case for months, and lack of development was starting to drive her crazy. But she wouldn't give up on this case, after all, Kyouyama Anna always solved the case, it was her job after all. 

Kyouyama Anna was one of the world's most prominent detectives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Tamao jumped as the office door creaked open. A tall woman dressed in a Chinese dress and a young blue haired girl walked in. 

            "Ah!" Tamao squeaked, "Jun-san, Pirika-san! Good morning!" 

            "Good morning, Tamao-chan." Tao Jun smiled, "Is Anna-chan ready to see us?"

            "Ah, let me call her and see," Tamao said, picking up the phone and dialing. It rung twice before a click and _"Hello?" _was heard. "Ah, Anna-sama, Jun-san and Pirika-san are here!" She said. 

After a moment, _"Send them in." _was heard.

            "Yes Anna-sama," Tamao said, placing the phone back on the receiver. "Anna-sama will see you know."

            "Thank you," Jun said, sweeping gracefully over to the door that separated Anna's office from the waiting room, Pirika closely following.

            "See you, Tamao-chan!" The Ainu girl grinned, disappearing into the doorway behind her companion.

            "Good luck…" Tamao said quietly, watching the door close.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "Please take a seat," Anna said, motioning to the two chairs in front of her desk.

            "Yes, thank you," Jun said, sitting down. "How are you doing today Anna?"

            "Fine, thank you," Anna said coldly. "May I assume the same for you?"

            "The best I can be under the circumstances." Jun said, smiling softly.

            "Anna-san, have you found out anything?" Pirika asked, her voice full of hope.

            "They're still alive," Anna sighed, "Other then that, no."

            "Well, that's a good thing…" Jun sighed, she had been hoping to learn something more.

            "Oh, oniichan, when I get my hands on you!" Pirika growled, pounding her fist on her outstretched palm.

            "I assure you, Pirika, Jun-san, I will find your brothers."

            "I trust you Anna," Jun said, "If you do not have any new information, may I assume that we're done for now?"

            "There's nothing that can help the case that you haven't already provided me with." Anna said, "But are you absolutely sure that-" _RIIING! _"Yes?" She picked up the phone.

            _"Anna-sama, there is a Mr. Lyserg Diethel here to see you." _

            "Tell him I'll be with him in just a moment." Anna said, before placing the phone back down on the receiver. 

            "We'll be going, then." Jun said, getting up, "Thank you, Anna."

            "Thank me when I have something to tell you," Anna said her icy gaze sweeping back down to the papers on her desk.

            "Bye, Anna-san!" Pirika said. "I hope this case gets solved soon, I know you're worried about Yoh-san and Hao-san as well!" She exited the office, shutting the door behind her.

            Anna blinked. She'd been so wrapped up in the fact that this case was going no where that she'd almost forgotten exactly who was involved. Two of the missing boys happened to be old friends of hers, the twins Hao and Yoh Asakura.

            Shaking that aside, she reminded herself that personal should not be mixed with business. 

            She picked up the phone, "Tamao, send Diethel-san in now."

            _"H-hai, Anna-sama!" _

            In a moment, the door opened to reveal a green haired boy around her own age.

            "Ah," He gaped at her for a moment.

            "Is something wrong, Diethel-san?" She asked, knitting her fingers.

            "Oh, no, nothing, Kyouyama-san," He spoke with a slight English accent. "It's just that I wasn't expecting you to be so young."

            "I assure you, despite my age I am a very experienced detective." Anna said, casting a cold glance at the green haired boy. "Please have a seat."

            He did so, "I am very sorry…"

            She waved her hand, "No need for apologies, it happens all the time. Now, Diethel-san-"

            "Oh, please call me Lyserg, Kyouyama-san!" He said.

            "Lyserg," She began again, "Please tell me why you are here?"

            "There-there is something I'd like you to solve…" He said, lowering his gaze to the desk top, "The-the…" He took a breath, stuttering slightly.

            "Take you time." Anna advised. 

            "Ah, thank you." Lyserg closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths before he began again, "I assume you know of the Robotics lab downtown?"

            "Of course, it was a very prominent business," She said. "Does this have to do with the fire that destroyed it? If so, I really do think that's police-"

            "I am certain that fire was not an accident."

            Her head snapped up, her eyes wide, "What do you mean?"

            Lyserg gazed sadly at her, "I know quite a lot about the building. The police found cans of gasoline around the premises. They assumed that they had been left there by employees for future use. That is not the case," He said, closing his eyes, as if to visualize the building, "All employees knew the danger of keeping flammable substances around the building, and I'm sure none of them would have been sloppy enough to leave gasoline around."

            "You think someone set fire to the building." It was a statement, not a question.

            "Yes."

            "I see…" She said, tucking a few stray strands of hair behind her ear, "And what business is this of yours, Lyserg?"

            "My parents were both killed in the fire." He said slowly.

            She nodded, "I see…I'll accept this case and do my best to solve it."

            Lyserg stood up, "I should be going now."

            "I'll contact you in case I find out anything you might need to know. Please leave your phone number with my secretary." 

            "I'll do that," He gave her a small smile as he reached the door, "I appreciate this very much, Kyouyama-san." The door clicked shut.

            She sighed, "I wonder if these two cases could be connected?" She thought aloud. Shaking her blonde head, Anna stood up and stretched. She walked out the door, stopping as she reached Tamao's desk. 

            "I'm going out for lunch, please tell my clients to wait. I'll be back shortly," She said, grabbing her purse and keys.

            "Hai, Anna-sama!" Tamao said, waving as Anna exited the building. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Yoh nodded his head to the music blaring from the headphones.  

Hao glared, grabbing the headphones off his brother's head.

            "Hey, why'd you do that, Hao?" Yoh pouted.

            "I've been screaming at you for five minutes."

            "Really? Heh heh, I didn't notice…"

            Hao let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Yoh, for the last time, we shouldn't be spending so long in public. What if-" He caught a flash of blond hair and a red bandana out of the corner of his eye. Grabbing Yoh's arm, Hao, pulled him flat against the book shelf that separated them from possible disaster. 

            "Hao?" Yoh blinked, looking up at his brother.

            "Shh!" Hao whispered, peering over his shoulder at the next section where a blonde girl wearing a red bandana and a black dress, looking at the books in the supernatural section.

            "Damn it." He growled. "If she sees us, it endangers everything."

            "Hao, what is it?" Yoh whispered, following Hao's gaze. "Oh..." He caught sight of Anna. 

            "Quiet, I need to think." Hao hissed. Yoh nodded, staring at Anna.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_            "I can't force you to come back."_

_            "Then why try?"_

_            "Yoh should return."_

_            "I won't give him up."_

_            "He has unique gifts. Can you teach him how to use them?"_

_            Silence._

_            "So you don't have an answer to that, do you? I knew it."_

_            "I won't give him up. Don't you even try to make me."_

_            "Hao, you will return him to us."_

_            "I didn't make him leave with me. He went because he wanted to. He's my brother."_

_            "I know that! Now stop being so stubborn. You will return Yoh to us. Or we will have to come and get him."_

_            "You can't take him from me! If you try, I will kill you!"_

_            "You'd kill your own family?"_

_            "If you try to take Yoh away from me, I will. I may be descended from you, but you were never my family." He turned on his heel, brown hair flying out behind him. _

_            "Hao! Hao, you will return Yoh! Hao, listen to me! Hao!" _

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoh toppled over, the bookshelf going with him to the ground. 

"Yoh!" Hao shouted, clapping his hand over his mouth a second to late.

Anna spun around, looking at the two twins. Her eyes traveled from Yoh on the ground, to Hao, now looking straight at her. She gaped for a moment, and in that moment, Hao grabbed Yoh, dragging him up. The two took off like a bolt of lightning, leaving a shocked Anna behind them. 

After a few seconds, the blonde recovered enough to realize the two were getting away. She ran after them, shouting their names.

She reached the parking lot only to see a car drive by, and at the wheel was Asakura Hao. 

"I…I don't believe it…" She whispered. "Calm down Anna," She said, taking a deep breath. "Go back to the office. Add this new information to your files, and then go back out and find out more. You will stay calm…you will stay calm."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What'd you see?" Hao asked, trying hard to concentrate on the road. 

"I'm not…sure…it's kind of fuzzy now." Yoh said, closing his eyes and leaning against the back of the seat.

Hao sighed in frustration. "Can you remember anything?"

"You…something about…they wanted…me…" 

"What do you mean?"

"I remember…someone kept saying…that you should…return me to them…"

Hao's eyes widened. "I know what I have to do." He whispered.

"What?" Yoh blinked.

Hao shook his head, turning sharply, he drove along until he caught sight of a shock of blue hair. Pulling over, he rolled down the window, "HoroHoro!"

The Ainu stopped in his tracks, "Hao? What you doing here? I thought you and Yoh went to the mall…"

"We did. Yoh, get out of the car."

"Hao-"

"Get out of the car." The elder twin said again.

Nodding, Yoh opened the door and slid out, standing next to his blue-haired friend.

"Horo, take Yoh home."

"Wait, Hao, where are you going?" Horo asked.

"…I have an errand to run." With that, he drove away.

"Argh! I just don't get him!" HoroHoro grumbled, watching the car drive off.

Yoh shook his head, "Hao is Hao. If there is something he feels he needs to do, then he'll do it, and no one can change his mind."

HoroHoro raised an eyebrow, "Wow. You really know him, huh?"

Yoh smiled. "C'mon, let's get going."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Seems there are people with secrets almost as dark as ours…" Azin trailed off.

"What do you mean?" Hikaru asked, placing a hand over Azin's.

"It's nothing that would concern you." 

"Hortensia. [1]" Hikaru said, glaring at Azin with violet eyes. 

"Throatwood. [2]" Azin said, running a hand through Hikaru's messy hair.

Hikaru swatted the other's hand away, crossing his arms across his chest.

"I can't stand it any more! What the hell are they talking about?" The blue haired girl yelled.

The blonde one giggled, "Chloe, it's the language of flowers!"

"…The what?"

Sierra sighed, shaking her blonde head, "Nevermind."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't force you to come back."

            "Then why try?"

            "Yoh should return."

            "I won't give him up."

            "He has unique gifts. Can you teach him how to use them?"

            Silence.

            "So you don't have an answer to that, do you? I knew it."

            "I won't give him up. Don't you even try to make me."

            "Hao, you will return him to us."

            "I didn't make him leave with me. He went because he wanted to. He's my brother."

            "I know that! Now stop being so stubborn. You will return Yoh to us. Or we will have to come and get him."

            "You can't take him from me! If you try, I will kill you!"

            "You'd kill your own family?"

            "If you try to take Yoh away from me, I will. I may be descended from you, but you were never my family." He turned on his heel, brown hair flying out behind him. 

            "Hao! Hao, you will return Yoh! Hao, listen to me! Hao!" 

The young man didn't turn around. Kino Asakura clenched her hand, letting out a sigh that sounded much like a growl. "We will get Yoh back." She intoned, looking up at the sky. "We will."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that, folks, was chapter 4! The longest chapter so far I think…nine pages. O.o;; Wow. Anyway, if the ending seems a bit rushed, I'm sorry, I wrote it in a hurry. ^^;; Please read and review!

1. Hortensia- 'You are cold' in the language of flowers.

2. Throatwood- 'Neglected beauty' in the language of flowers. 

XD I just couldn't resist…


	5. A Meeting

A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating sooner! Please forgive me, oh wonderful readers! I honestly did mean to update sooner, but…well, you know. I guess I lost track of time. Well, here's your update, and I promise I won't take this long to update again!

Disclaimer: I can't even update this fic on time, how do you think I would do owning a manga/anime series? Not very well, that's how. It's safe to say I don't own Shaman King.

Note: Just a word out to everyone, I'm pretty sure fanfiction.net is deleting asterisks (the little star symbol things) when you upload fics. It's very annoying…so, yeah, just wanted to inform everyone about that. Unless it's just happening to me…o.o;;

-----------------------

Broken Circuit

Chapter 5

By Amethyst Bubble

-----------------------

            "Ah, Anna-sama, you're back!" Tamao exclaimed. Anna didn't reply. She simply stalked across, slamming the door to her office behind her.

            Tamao blinked, "Maybe her favorite restaurant was too crowded?" The pink haired girl mused. The blonde had seemed to be in a _very _bad mood. Tamao decided the safest course of action would be to stay out of Anna's way for a while.

---------------------

            Anna sighed, leaning against her office door, her eyes shut tightly. First, Hao and Yoh disappear, and everyone assumes they're either dead, or in some distant country. The rumor spreading around the Asakura family was that Hao had kidnapped and murdered Yoh.

            Well, at least Anna now knew that wasn't true. The twins were both very much alive and not as far away as everyone thought. Though, now that they had been recognized, they might flee somewhere else.

            Anna slammed a fist into the door, letting out a low growl. "Damn them."

            "Don't worry, my dear, we already are."

            Anna's blonde head snapped up. Sitting cross-legged on her desk was none other then Asakura Hao.

            "Don't look so surprised," Hao grinned, running a hand through his long brown hair, the movement causing his earrings to make a faint clinking sound.

            "What are you doing here?" She asked, her voice more shocked then angry.

            "Can't I visit an old friend?" Hao mock pouted. "Really, Anna, you injure me."

            "Please, Hao, I know you better then to fall for that old act." Anna glared at the brunette.

            "Ah, I'm sure you do." A half-smile, half-smirk was sent her way.

            "If you're trying to stay hidden, I don't think visiting the detective who's been sent to track you down is a particularly smart idea."

            "Detective, eh? My, my…you sure have made a name for yourself, haven't you?" Hao asked, deliberately straying from the subject.

            "Where is Yoh?"

            "He's safe, that's all you need to know."

            "No, I need to know more. You will tell me more." She said, her voice forceful.

            "You can't boss me around. Maybe you could do that with Yoh, but I'm not Yoh, now am I?" That infuriating smirk once again graced his lips. Anna's hands curled into fists, her nails digging into her palms.

"You will tell me."

"No, I won't." Hao sang out, fiddling with the edge of his cloak, "Do say something more interesting, I'm getting rather bored."

"Why did you come here, then?" Anna asked, glaring at the brunette on her desk.

"Simply to talk," Hao said.

"No, you did not come to talk. Tell me, are Tao Ren and HoroHoro with you?"

"They are safe, yes."

"But are they with you?" Anna asked, nearly growling. Hao was so infuriating.

"You don't need to know. You may assure their sisters that they are safe, and that is that."  Hao said, "Now Anna, it's been a fascinating conversation, and I really must be going soon. But before that, I'd like to give you a few words of advice."

"Like what?" Anna growled, narrowing her eyes.

"You aren't taking on the case of a certain Diethel Lyserg, are you?" Hao asked, his eyes glinting eerily, rather like a cat's.

"Have you been going through my papers?" Anna nearly shouted, infuriated. This guy had some nerve.

"Yes or no?"

"He came to me with a case, and I accepted, yes." She growled.

"Well, Anna," Hao slid off the desk and walked over to her, until there was only a few inches between them. "Stay out of that case. For your own good, of course."

"Why should I?"

"What's done is done, the whole place went up in smoke. There is nothing left." He whispered harshly, then turned on his heal, cloak and hair swishing behind him.

"How do you know so much about that case?" Anna asked, before an idea entered her mind. "The place went up in a sudden and unexplained fire. Hao, you didn't-"

            An soft breeze entered the room as Hao slid open the window, "What's done is done." He repeated, smiling.

            "What are you doing with that window? Hao, this is a seventh story office! You aren't thinking about jumping, are you?" Anna asked, taking a few steps forward.

            "Goodbye for now," Hao smiled and waved, before jumping out the window.

            Anna ran to the edge, looking down. Hao was no where in sight. "That infuriating bastard!" She slammed the window shut. "Stay out of the case? Oh no, especially not now."

--------------------

            "HAO!" Yoh shouted, as his twin walked into the house, "Where have you been? Do you know how long you've been gone?" The brunette practically flung himself at his brother, wrapping Hao in a tight hug.

            "Really now, Yoh, no need to suffocate me," Hao said, removing Yoh's arms from his neck.

            "Do you know how worried I was?" Yoh asked.

            "And do you know how annoying he is when he's worried?" Ren asked, looking up from the book he was buried in. Horo leaned over Ren's shoulder, trying to get a better look at the book the other held.

            "As punishment, I am not kissing you for a whole two hours!" Yoh said, placing his hands on his hips.

            "Oooh, now there's a punishment." Ren said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

            "Oh, and you look so adorable when you're mad too!" Hao pouted.

            "Well, that's what you get for not even telling me where you were going!"

            Hao sighed, "Do you want to know where I went?"

            Yoh nodded. Ren and Horo looked up, curious.

            Hao took a deep breath and began…

--------------------------

CLIFFHANGER! XD

Heehee, for the next chapter, Hao will be explaining where he went, exactly. And some other stuff…I don't really know. I promise I won't take so long to get it up, though! Review, please!


	6. Are We Doing the Right Thing?

A/N: Please, hold your tomatoes! I'm sorry, so very sorry to have taken so long. O.o; I got horrible Writer's Block. But I'm writing now, ne?

…Okay, you can throw your tomatoes now. ;.;

Disclaimer: I have a number and two words that prove that I do not own Shaman King: 4Kids Entertainment. :: Nods, shuffles papers together and walks off set::

------------------

Broken Circuit

Chapter 6

By Amethyst Bubble

---------------------

"…And then I came home," Hao finished.

Yoh was silent for a minute, staring at his brother with a 'you-have-to-be-kidding-me' sort of look. "Oniichan," He began in a strained voice. "You are an idiot."

"I agree," Ren replied, looking up from his book. HoroHoro nodded, still trying to read over Ren's shoulder.

"You went to visit Anna?" Yoh glared at his brother. "Anna, Anna Kyouyama, THE Anna? OUR Anna?" He ranted, beginning to pace. "Do you know how idiotic that was? You know she's a detective now! And you know that she's almost positively been sent to track us down! You complete moron!"

Hao winced, "You don't have to be so mean about it." Honestly, didn't Yoh believe that he knew what he was doing? Sometimes he swore his twin had zero faith in him.

And if Yoh didn't have zero faith in Hao before, he did now. "I can't believe you did that." He sighed, collapsing onto the floor, "Well, that's it…we're going to have to move to Antarctica. They'll never track us down there." He declared, closing his eyes.

"I'll go pack in a couple minutes," Horo muttered, propping his chin up on his palms. He muttered a mild protest as Ren turned a page. The Chinese boy closed the book with a snap, sat up and hit the Ainu over the head with it.

"We aren't moving to Antarctica," Ren said, ignoring Horo's sniffling.

"You're so cruel," The blue-haired shaman pouted. Ren ignored him again.

"But Ren," Yoh whined. "I don't want to go back! They're going to take me away from Hao! I don't want to be apart from him!"

"You're sweet," Hao purred reaching over and tucking a strand of Yoh's brown hair behind his ear.

"I'm still mad at you." The younger twin glared, slapping Hao's hand away.

Hao mock-pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.

--------------------------------

"Anna-sama?" Tamao timidly knocked on the door. She bit her lip when she received no answer, knocking again, a bit louder this time. "Anna-sama, is everything all right?" Still no answer.

Biting down on her lip, Tamao slowly pushed the door open, peering inside, "Anna-sama?"

The room was dark, all the lights were turned off. A window was wide open. Tamao's eyes widened, her hands flying to her mouth. Anna wouldn't, would she? She shook that thought from her mind. Anna wasn't suicidal, and even if she was, jumping out a window would be too crude a method for her.

Finally, she spotted the figure she'd been searching for. In a corner on her knees sat Kyouyama Anna, sheets of paper spread around her in a circle. In an almost frantic manner, she pawed through each and every one as if searching for something.

"Fire…Building…Not possible…Wouldn't…Could it…" Tamao strained to catch the words Anna muttered to herself under her breath.

The pink-haired girl chewed nervously at her lip. Anna was pale, with a blank look in her eyes. Tamao was worried; was she all right? She certainly didn't look like it. Slowly, putting one foot in front of the other, careful so as not to loose her nerve, Tamao crept forward.

"…No…" Anna tossed a sheet of paper behind her, reaching for another. "No…" That paper joined the last in the quickly growing pile of what Tamao could only guess as rejections.

"Anna-sama?" Tamao crouched down, trying to make eye-contact.

Anna didn't look up, quickly scanning a paper as if Tamao didn't exist.

Summoning her courage, she reached out and placed a hand on Anna's shoulders. Being yelled at was better then being ignored, Tamao decided. She had to try to snap Anna out of her current state.

Placing her other hand on Anna's other shoulder, Tamao gently shook the other girl. A mumble was her only response. Anna's eyes still held that blank look. Tamao tried again, shaking her a little harder. That time, Anna looked up.

"Anna-sama?" Tamao said softly, giving her boss another shake.

Anna gasped, looking up. "Ta…Tamao?" She said. Tamao nodded, feeling extremely relieved. Anna looked around, "What am I doing on the floor?"

Tamao blinked, "I don't know." She answered, "I entered because you weren't answering and you were on the floor."

Anna shook her head, "I remember now…After…" She trailed off and started gathering her papers together.

Tamao tilted her head to one side, "After what, Anna-sama?"

Anna straightened up, combing her blonde hair with her fingers. "It's nothing," She said, placing the papers on her desk and lowering herself into her chair.

"If you say so," Tamao said, slowly walking out of the room. With one last glance over her shoulder, she closed the door with a snap.

Picking up one document at random, Anna began reading again, scanning line after line of print.

---------------------------

"Ren?"

The Chinese boy looked up from his book. A rather nervous looking Ainu stood in front of him, chewing on his bottom lip.

"What do you want?" Ren shut his book, placing it down beside him.

HoroHoro shifted from foot to foot before moving to sit down next to Ren. "I was just wondering… Are we doing the right thing?"

Ren raised an eyebrow, "To answer that, I'd have to know what you were referring to. That was an awfully vague question."

The Ainu rolled his eyes, "You know what I'm talking about! You just don't want to answer it!" He crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at the wall opposite him, "Fine. Be that way. Be an insensitive bastard. See if I care!"

Ren sighed, he absolutely hated Horo's pathetic attempts at guilt trips. They were just so sad he usually just told the fool whatever he wanted to know. It wasn't like the guilt trips worked or anything. No, absolutely not, the guilt trips did not work. Not at all. Denial is a sad thing, isn't it?

"You're referring to us helping Hao and Yoh, running away, not telling our sisters where we were going or even that we were going before we left, am I correct?" He didn't really need to ask, he already knew that he was.

Slowly, a spiky blue-haired head nodded.

Horo was being eerily quiet, Ren noted. Usually, the fool was such a loud-mouth. A hyper, ever-optimistic loud mouth. But…not tonight. Tonight he was quiet. Too quiet. Normally, Ren would have thought that the silence was nice, but…not tonight. Could it be he had grown accustom to Horo's senseless babbling?

"Ren?"

Ah, and now the silence was gone, but a fleeting memory. It was a shame really; Ren was just about to open his book again.

"What is it?"

"You never answered my question."

Realizing that he hadn't, Ren closed his eyes. This conversation was starting to give him a headache. "In all honestly, HoroHoro, I don't know."

"I…don't think we are. Doing the right thing, I mean," Horo said barely a whisper.

Ren stared at him out of the corner of his eye. Horo was certainly acting odd tonight. Not that he was worried. Why should he worry about Horo?

"We just left, without telling them. I never got to say 'Goodbye' or 'I love you' or anything nice like that to Pirika. I left while she was out grocery shopping. I think the last thing I said to her was 'bring back some good food for a change'." Dark eyes stared off into space as HoroHoro continued, "I didn't even hug her. I knew I was leaving, and I still didn't hug her or say something nice. I didn't even watch her leave the house."

A sigh, "That's because you're an idiot."

"HEY!" Horo exclaimed, swiveling around and glaring at Ren, "I bet you didn't say anything nice to your sister!"

"Wrong," Ren said, staring up at the ceiling. "I told her she was a good sister before I left."

"Oh," Horo said. Once again, he'd underestimated Ren. He seemed to have a bad habit of doing that.

The two sat in silence, each lost in his own thoughts about the other.

---------------------

"'Niichan?" Yoh opened the door to his brother's room, quickly making his way to the bed and sitting down next to his twin.

"I thought you weren't speaking to me," Hao smirked, turning amused eyes on his brother.

Yoh shifted slightly under his brother's gaze, "Well, I'm not really," He paused. "I'm not talking to you." He nodded.

"Then what are you doing right now?"

"Not talking to you."

Hao raised an eyebrow, "Yoh…"

Silence. And then, "…Okay, fine! I'm done being mad at you! I give in! I'm talking to you again! Are you happy now? Are you?"

"Quite," Hao answered, grinning widely. "I knew you couldn't stay mad at me for long." He purred, slinking an arm around Yoh's shoulders.

"…You're going to make me not speak to you again," Yoh said, pushing Hao's arm off.

Hao raised one eyebrow, but did not put his arm around Yoh again, "Did you come in here just to torture me by insisting that I can not touch you, or was there another reason."

"Hao, I'm not you. I don't enjoy the pain of others," Yoh rolled his eyes, swinging his legs back and forth over the edge of the bed. "…Yeah, I kind of wanted to know…What're we gonna do if Anna does catch us?" He looked over at his twin with curiosity filled eyes. "I mean, you literally told her that you set the building on fire, 'niichan." He sent his brother a glare. "The one time you have to be honest…" He shook his head, short brown locks flying back and forth.

Hao shrugged, "She's not going to catch us." He said, "I'm going to make sure of it." Ruffling his brother's hair, he let out a light laugh, "I have my ways, Yoh dearest."

-------------------

::Picking bits of tomato out of her hair:: Yeah, I deserved that. Please, if you must throw something at me in your reviews, make it rotten fruit, and not heavy objects. O.o;;


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